But wait! You get even MORE distant galaxies!

[PPI Karl]

Am I too easily impressed, or is this really amazing?

"This wide-field, deep image reveals thousands of galaxies crowding an area on the sky roughly as large as the full
moon. Beginning in the centre of the image and extending below and to the left, a concentration of about a hundred yellowish galaxies
identifies a massive galaxy cluster, designated Abell 315, about two billion light-years away from us." Photo Credit: ESO/J. Dietrich

FULL STORY:
Thousands of Distant Galaxies Revealed in New Photo
By SPACE.com Staff
posted: 05 May 2010
10:34 am ET

Thousands of galaxies crowding an area on the sky roughly the size of the full moon have been captured in a new photo released today.

The new cosmic photo, a wide-field view from the European Southern Observatory, reveals many thousands of distant galaxies, including a large group belonging to the massive galaxy cluster known as Abell 315.

Yet, as crowded as it may appear, this assembly of galaxies ? like most galaxy clusters ? is dominated by dark matter that remains unseen. And while the actual existence of dark matter remains largely unexplained, this mysterious stuff has helped scientists piece together other parts of the cosmic puzzle. For instance, dark matter's gravitational pull on galaxy clusters helped researchers calculate the mass of Abell 315.

When stargazers scan the night sky with the unaided eye, they mostly see only stars within our own Milky Way galaxy and some of its closest neighbors. More distant galaxies tend to be too faint to be perceived by the human eye, but if they could be seen, they would literally cover the entire sky.

These galaxies span a vast range of distances. For those that are relatively close, it is possible to distinguish their spiral arms or elliptical halos, particularly in the upper part of the image.

The more distant galaxies appear much fainter. The light from these galaxies have travelled through the universe for 8 billion years or more before reaching Earth. The universe is about 13.7 billion years old.


The thing about Abell (315)

The galaxy cluster Abell 315 can be seen in the image beginning in the center and extending below and to the left. Abell 315 ? so-called because it was designated with the number 315 in the catalogue compiled by the American astronomer George Abell in 1958 ? is a concentration of about a hundred yellowish galaxies.

The galaxy cluster is located about 2 billion light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cetus (the Whale).

Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity, and while these types of images can reveal a rather crowded field of view, there is actually more in these structures than what we see. 

In these clusters, the galaxies themselves contribute to only 10 percent of the mass, with hot gas in between the galaxies accounting for another ten percent. The remaining 80 percent is made up of an invisible and unknown ingredient called dark matter that can be found in between the galaxy structures.

The presence of dark matter is revealed through its gravitational effect: the enormous mass of a galaxy cluster acts on the light from galaxies behind it (much like a cosmic magnifying glass), bending the trajectory of the light and thus making the galaxies in the background appear slightly distorted.


Dark matter secrets

By observing and analyzing the twisted shapes of these background galaxies, astronomers can infer the total mass of the cluster responsible for the distortion, even when this mass is mostly invisible.

Still, this effect is tiny, and to be accurate, it is necessary to measure it over a huge number of galaxies to obtain significant results. With Abell 315, the shapes of almost 10,000 fainter galaxies in this image were studied in order to estimate the total mass of the cluster, which amounts to over a hundred thousand billion times the mass of our sun.

A handful of other objects that are closer to Earth and much smaller than galaxies and galaxy clusters are also scattered throughout the image, including stars belonging to our own galaxy, as well as many asteroids that are visible as blue, green or red trails. These objects belong to the main asteroid belt, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

The image was taken by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

[PPI Debra]

It's very AMAZING!!

[Damian]

I spent about an hour daydreaming and staring into this photo a couple of months ago...just trying to wrap my mind around the scale and what each pin-prick of light represents.  Incomprehensible!

[PPI Debra]

Saw this quote in a book today. It reminded me of this photo.


     That which sings and contemplates in you
is still dwelling within the bounds of the first moment
      which scattered the stars into space
                                                                -Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet

[ljiljanac]

I love that stuff.  I have a telescope sitting here in my living room collecting dust on it, too.   

[PPI Tim]

What kind of Telescope do you have Lillie? We might have call for a star party.

[ljiljanac]

Tim....I have a Celestron Omni XLT 120 mounted on an Omni Series CG-4 German Equatorial Mount and tripod.  I have a couple of different eyepieces for it and a camera adapter for my Minolta 35 mm camera.  I've been dying to take it out and see if I can get some good pics but never had the chance.  I would LOVE a star party!!!!!   

[Damian]

Can we please have a summer star party?!  That would be so much fun, and crazy educational.

[PPI Tracy]

To say it is more than we can wrap our minds around, is an understatement.  At least in my case.  It just blows my mind when I think of how small each one of us is in relation to "all that is out there".  It feels that we are all so insignificant in comparison, yet we all play a vital role in the lives of many as well as our own place here on earth.  We all have so much to contribute.  If you think about it, each and every one of us has an impact on that which is so incomprehensively massive. 


p.s. a star party would be quite bitchin   

[ljiljanac]

I wish we weren't all so busy with our everyday lives.  I have more fun with you guys than anyone else I know.  haha!   

[PPI Tracy]

I have more fun with you guys than anyone else I know.  haha!   

Why do you think I hang out here all the time?  I feel the exact same way. 

Just wish I lived closer. 

[PPI Brian]

Absolutely astounding, especially when you take into consideration the following: There are probably more than 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Most galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000 parsecs in diameter and are usually separated by distances on the order of millions of parsecs (or megaparsecs). One parsec equals about 3.3 light years, and one light year is about 6 trillion miles. The Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light years wide. The galaxy cluster in this image is about 2 billion light years away. The light we "see" left those galaxies over two billion years ago.

I can't even begin to articulate my sense of astonishment. 

[PPI Brian]

ESA's Herschel infrared telescope recently captured a mindblowing image that is worthy of posting:

Thousands of galaxies crowd into this Herschel image of the distant universe. Each dot is an entire galaxy containing billions of stars. This image image was taken in a region of space called the Lockman hole, which allows a clear line of sight out into the distant Universe. This "hole" is located in the familiar northern constellation of Ursa Major, The Great Bear.

[PPI Tim]

And just think Brian.....we are the only ones in the universe.
No one else! Nada, zip. we are it!
There can't possibly be anyone out there. It is just space.

Looking at the picture I wonder which galaxy far far away is the old republic?

[Gary]

That is truly incredible and mind blowing!   :o

[ljiljanac]

K there has GOT to be a Planet Earth or two out there somewhere! 

[PPI Tracy]

It's so hard to even wrap your brain around it.  (at least it is with mine)

[Damian]

No question, Lillie!  I think the same thing.  The problem is that the distance between other intelligent life is sooooo vast that we're unlikely to ever encounter it, even moving at light-speed, or near-light-speed.  Now if space travel evolves to a point where we can intelligently employ wormholes, then we're cooking with gas!

[ljiljanac]

No question, Lillie!  I think the same thing.  The problem is that the distance between other intelligent life is sooooo vast that we're unlikely to ever encounter it, even moving at light-speed, or near-light-speed.  Now if space travel evolves to a point where we can intelligently employ wormholes, then we're cooking with gas!

lol   

[PPI Brian]

No question, Lillie!  I think the same thing.  The problem is that the distance between other intelligent life is sooooo vast that we're unlikely to ever encounter it, even moving at light-speed, or near-light-speed.  Now if space travel evolves to a point where we can intelligently employ wormholes, then we're cooking with gas!

That's a good thing, don't you think? Look how the Spaniards treated the Maya and Aztec civilizations when they made contact... exposed them to diseases they had never encountered before, then played their religion against them and used European technology to subjugate them. They imposed their religious beliefs, took their gold, trashed their cities and burned their libraries. I have always believed the incredibly vast distances between planets is a very good thing. Not that I'm an isolationist, but space is good. 

[ljiljanac]

No question, Lillie!  I think the same thing.  The problem is that the distance between other intelligent life is sooooo vast that we're unlikely to ever encounter it, even moving at light-speed, or near-light-speed.  Now if space travel evolves to a point where we can intelligently employ wormholes, then we're cooking with gas!

That's a good thing, don't you think? Look how the Spaniards treated the Maya and Aztec civilizations when they made contact... exposed them to diseases they had never encountered before, then played their religion against them and used European technology to subjugate them. They imposed their religious beliefs, took their gold, trashed their cities and burned their libraries. I have always believed the incredibly vast distances between planets is a very good thing. Not that I'm an isolationist, but space is good. 

Oh my!!  Since you put it THAT way!!  lol lol lol   

[Damian]

I couldn't agree with you more, Brian!